Dallin H. Oaks of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saint's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has
reiterated the church's opposition to gay marriage.

During the faith's biannual conference
in Salt Lake City, Oaks said that increasing support for allowing gay
and lesbian couples to marry challenged Mormon beliefs.

“Though we disagree, we should not be
disagreeable,” Elder Oaks said. “Our stands and communications
on controversial topics should not be contentious.”

Last
year, Oaks blamed marriage equality and other “policy changes
to establish behaviors contrary to God's decrees about sexual
morality” for America's dropping birthrates, later marriages and
rising rates of cohabitation.

The church faced a backlash in 2008
over its heavy involvement in passage of Proposition 8, California's
now-defunct constitutional amendment limiting marriage to
heterosexual couples.